Bullets Over Broadway
• Local indie-pop trio Oh No! Oh My! touched 38,000-plus attendees at Minute Maid Park in Houston. Well, kind of. The band’s sunshiny “Walk in the Park,” off last year’s self-titled LP, beamed from the PA as the Astros lost miserably to the St. Louis Cardinals on April 8. Fresh off tour with Danish rockers Mew, ON!OM! plays a one-off acoustic show at Stubb’s inside tonight (Thursday) with friends Let’s Go Sailing. “Right now, we’re in the midst of choosing a record label that we’ll be with for the long-term,” says multi-instrumentalist Daniel Hoxmeier. “It’s just figuring out which one is right for us.”
• The second annual Ram Jam, in memorial of San Antonio TacoLand patriarch and owner Ramiro “Ram” Ayala, who was shot and killed June 24, 2005, took place last Saturday, April 14, at Sam’s Burger Joint. Ayala would’ve been 74 years old April 10. His assailant, Joseph Gamboa, was found guilty of capital murder by a jury and was sentenced to death on March 8. Co-defendant Jose Najera awaits trial. TacoLand doorman “Gypsy” Doug Morgan was also killed during the robbery. The legendary dive is now on the market.
• Austin’s Charles Attal Presents strikes with a twofer. Austin City Limits Music Festival tickets went on sale Tuesday, April 17, for the early-bird rate of $120. The price will increase to $145 once those are sold out. The fest graces Zilker Park, Sept. 14-16, with the lineup announcement expected sometime in mid-May. Keep your eye on www.aclfestival.com. Chicago, meanwhile, hosts Lollapalooza 2007, which includes a strong Austin contingent: Spoon, Roky Erickson & the Explosives, Ghostland Observatory, and the Black Angels. Pearl Jam, Daft Punk, Ben Harper, and the Stooges headline Grant Park Aug. 3-5. Three-day passes are on sale now for $195 at www.lollapalooza.com.
• Our favorite dinosaur-masked metal guru, Ben Aqua of Assacre, branches out into performance art next weekend, April 26-28, 8-10pm, at the Blue Theater for Refraction Arts’ Fuse Box Festival (see “Fuse Box: Supercharged,” April 13, 2007). Aqua promises wrestling, homoeroticism, and cult behavior plus “objects of fantasy and abstract evidence of transhumanism.” See www.refractionarts.org for more.
• Congratulations to Fort Worth-born free-jazz mastermind Ornette Coleman for winning the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Music for last year’s exquisite Sound Grammar. That’s pretty much the sweetest icing on the cake for that acclaimed masterwork. Once a Texan, always a Texan.
This article appears in April 20 • 2007.